Wisdom from the Heart - Page 5

“When you follow your bliss, doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.” ~ Joseph Campbell

Following your bliss means being true to your self, the incarnated soul who has plans for this life, and who has connections ready and waiting to support those plans and provide opportunities. The true self is fundamentally loving, so be guided by that to recognize your life purpose.

“A vision without a task is a dream. A task without a dream is drudgery, but a vision with a task can change the world.” ~ Black Elk

When you’re feeling inspired and enthusiastic, and know what to do next, there’s no limit to what you can create.

“Know the wholeness, perfection and beauty that you are. Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home. Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself.” ~ Ravi Shankar

Mindfulness is key to the ongoing evolution of humanity and the Dalai Lama teaches this practice well.

“The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind. It enables us to remain undisturbed, even when the situation is really difficult. It gives us a certain amount of inner peace, which allows us some self-control, so that we can choose to respond to situations in an appropriate and compassionate manner, rather than being driven by our disturbing emotions.” ~ Dalai Lama

It helps when you can play the sitar like he does. But we can all find our beauty and love... just think of the compassionate things you do, the empathy you feel for people, the understanding you have, the way you listen openly, your heart reaching out.

“If you send out goodness from yourself, or if you share that which is happy or good within you, it will all come back to you multiplied ten thousand times. In the kingdom of love there is no competition; there is no possessiveness or control. The more love you give away, the more love you will have.” ~ John O’Donohue

Law of attraction at work. Positive vibes attract the same back, but of course there are many other loving people so it comes multiplied.

“The soul is healed by being with children.” ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Who cannot have compassion for the vulnerability and naivety of a child? As we open our hearts to them, we see ourselves in them too, and become more open to flow healing compassion to our inner child, our ageless soul.

“A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Such a person looks out only for himself, and sees values such as compassion and service as weakness.

“Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.” ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Love leads to connection and oneness, acceptance and compassion. It’s the path we need to take, both to survive and to evolve. It’s the path that more and more people are taking, thank God.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ~ Melody Beattie

“The best teachers are those who show you where to look but don’t tell you what to see.” ~ Alexandra K. Trenfor

Real learning takes place when you find out for yourself. The thrill of insight means you never forget, and the process of discovery means you truly understand. Another person’s insights are not the same and represent a lost opportunity.

“Don’t take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz

When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

“May the long time sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way home” ~ Gaelic blessing

Also because it’s true. You are not your past actions, nor even your present behavior. You’re responsible for them, but they are not who you are.

“You are always a valuable, worthwhile human being... not because anybody says so, not because you’re successful, not because you make a lot of money... but because you decide to believe it and for no other reason.” ~ Wayne Dyer

Also because it’s true. You are not your past actions, nor even your present behavior. You’re responsible for them, but they are not who you are.

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Conflicts between sub-personalities - the parts of you that want one thing, another the opposite - are caused by identification and attachment. Like Buddha said, attachment is the cause of suffering. The real you is not attached, and you can find the real you by recognizing the loving aspect of your self, that which is non-judgmental and compassionate. That’s you.

“Thinking and consciousness are not synonymous. Thinking is only a small aspect of consciousness. Thought cannot exist without consciousness, but consciousness does not need thought.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Consciousness, our spiritual ground, is not the ego identity of our thinking body-mind personality, it lies behind, and when awake it is aware: witnessing, knowing and loving without judgment.

“The problem with common sense is that it’s not very common.” ~ Mike Costigan

Perhaps it’s a good thing that we don’t all think the same and come to the same conclusion. Imagine that!

A rational, objective view may seem obvious to those that have it, but still be rare because others perceive through a curtain of prejudices, fixed beliefs, generalities, missing information and all of their own personal conditioning, education, influences, experiences and peculiarities.

And a “rational, objective” view can turn out to be false because it wasn’t so rational and objective after all, just seemed to be. Like David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s: “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?”

We all face many challenges - healing, relating, achieving, understanding - and each may be considered a hill we can climb for the better view and passage forward, or an immovable obstacle in our way that we are the victim of. As Edmund Hillary said, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

“We are made by love, we are made of love, and we are made for love. Everything is love anyway. Our hate is love turned sour, jealousy is love turned bitter, our fears are love standing upside down, greed is love gone overboard, attachment is love turned sticky.” ~ Khurshed Batliwala

This is a fuller version of one of my favorite quotes. The first sentence is profound truth; the second and third explain how love underlies not only the divine but also the most down to earth. That’s what is meant by Oneness.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” ~ Charles Buxton

It’s like if you’re too busy to meditate, you’re too busy to live. Priorities have to be made consciously and deliberately, otherwise nothing intentional happens.

“A person experiences life as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. Our task must be to free ourselves from this self-imposed prison, and through compassion, to find the reality of Oneness.” ~ Albert Einstein

At the same time, the individual survival game is part and parcel of our identification with the human animal, and our temporary incarnation as a human being. I believe we come here both to experience life as individuals and to help evolve humanity toward a higher consciousness, which includes perception of our Oneness on relationship, community and cosmic dimensions. And so we have both ways of being, our choice in this moment.

“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” ~ Raymond Lindquist

It feels safe and comfortable in our familiar everyday box, but creativity and indeed our very freedom requires us to let go of such certainties, to feel free to take risks. If we risk nothing, we cannot learn, feel, change, grow or love.

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” ~ Carl Rogers

Non-acceptance is resistance of what is. That which is resisted continues to persist, because it’s denied and held out of view. Best to accept your pimples and grouchy temper, learn to love yourself just as you are in full view, then address these issues if you want, but with compassion and a smile.

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” ~ Harriet Beecher Stow

Keep the faith. After all that work and strong intention, there’s a good chance that if your heart’s really in it, some synchronicity will occur that rides you over the top of the wave, so then you can surf to victory!

“There are two great days in a person’s life; the day we are born and the day we discover why.” ~ William Barclay

The ‘reason why’ need not be a special life purpose you were born with and have remembered, it can also be your creation right now. But it needs to be something you want to do that inspires you deeply, that you feel with all your soul is the right thing for you, that expresses your very being... Then go for it! You create your destiny.

“When we learn to say a deep, passionate yes to the things that really matter, then peace begins to settle onto our lives like golden sunlight sifting to a forest floor.” ~ Thomas Kinkaide

What really matters? Love is the only thing that really matters, so if we are guided by love, we know what to be passionate about: things that reflect our love.

“Your life is the manifestation of your dream; it is an art. And you can change your life any time you aren’t enjoying the dream.” ~ don Miguel Ruiz

We wake up from this dream when we die, but it’s not a bad idea to make it into a lucid dream and wake up a bit on a more regular basis, and direct your dream where you really want it to go.

“Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home. Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself.” ~ Ravi Shankar

Finding this precious space within is made easier by meditations such as those offered by the newly-expanded free program on Trans4mind: Love is All You Need.

“The biggest mistake people make is not trying to make a living at what they most enjoy.” ~ M. Forbes

If you spend all day doing something you don’t really enjoy, just because it pays the bills: that’s not a good enough reason. You’ll look back at your life as a missed opportunity. I know “not everyone has the choice” - but is that really true?

“God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; we see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” ~ Mother Teresa

It’s much easier to be mindful in a silent, still environment, such as the early hours of the morning, deep in the countryside, in a boat far from land, or walking in forest and mountains. One is free from negative energies, just the pure ones of nature and those from one’s loving heart.

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” ~ Anatole France

By creating an exciting vision that is true to our nature and values, we can believe in it completely... then we are motivated to make it happen, and there are no hidden inner blocks to achievement.

“You’ll seldom experience regret for what you’ve done; it’s what you haven’t done that will torment you.” ~ Wayne Dyer

Mistakes, you regret for a while, but you learned from them, they were necessary in a way, and time moves on. Whereas love unexpressed, or life purpose unfilled... those things are fundamental and remain in place.

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” ~ Wayne Dyer

Karma in this sense is like “responsibility” - we are responsible for our actions and the effects that result. If the effects are bad we feel bad; therefore karma is self-imposed, through inner-knowing. The undoing of karma is achieved by taking responsibility for those effects, and learning from what happened. The karma is clear when the space is filled with loving compassion.

“It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” ~ Charles Darwin

Being adaptable to change may draw on strength and IQ but, I feel it demands an open mind above all, alongside other factors including emotional, social and spiritual intelligence, plus inherent virtues and talents.

“It’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to be, it will happen in the right time, with the right person, for the best reason.” ~ unknown author

The law of attraction will do it’s thing; but remember the LofA is not passive nor separate from you - you have to be at the right vibration yourself, you need to be involved and your heart open.

“Embrace fully your capacity to create, to think in unlimited ways, and to pursue everything that you have been wanting. Be flexible, open and willing to let the new come to you. This can be the most joyous, prosperous, and creative time of your life.” ~ Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

Make it happen now... There’s nothing stopping you but doubt.

“There is not a life purpose you’re supposed to do. There is only that which you are inspired to do.” ~ Abraham

Love is at the center of our being, therefore to all questions about philosophy and spirituality.

“There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only Love.” ~ actor Johnny Depp’s character in the film, Don Juan DeMarco

Your life purpose is not some chore handed down by decree, nor something you feel is expected of you, but rather it is your own creation, guided by your inner knowing. That is, the complete fulfillment of who you are, your true values and your potential for loving service.

“The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant

Fair-weather friends are more like associates, who may not care that much about you. But some do and they are the true friends who stand by you, even when it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient for them. Because they love you.

“We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity.” ~ Barbara De Angelis

Wanting to please others or not wanting to upset them is not a good enough reason to compromise what we feel and know is the right thing to do; otherwise we climb on the slippery slide to a life without integrity, which is really no life at all.

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ~ John Steinbeck

One idea stimulates another, and a couple of ideas can stimulate a whole family. So books get written, paintings created, and dreams achieved.

“God experiences Life through each of us, and we experience Life thanks to God.” ~ John Steinbeck

Since in our Higher Being we are a part of the ultimate Source and consciousness of all universes. I feel this is true, although in describing our philosophy we may use different terminology.

“God is the mind that imagines physical reality. We are each like an intention in that holographic mind.” ~ Peter Shepherd

We create our reality, and the more of us do so together, the more physical that reality becomes. So by raising our consciousness together and actively, we can literally change the world we live in. See the new program, Love is All You Need that we can all freely participate in.

It’s also largely in the moment, spontaneous, and surprise follows surprise. It can be as simple as making a cake or talking with a friend, taking a decision, seeing things a different way, or visualizing a story.

“Communication is the solvent of all problems, therefore communication skills are the foundation for personal development.” ~ Peter Shepherd

Communication (expression and listening) leads to understanding leads to empathy leads to compassion. Compromise and agreements become possible, the way ahead shared.

“The first thing you discover is a kind of emptiness, a silence, a presence which doesn’t seem to have content to it, like looking up at a limitless sky. That boundary-less place inside you is your own consciousness, your awareness. When you relax into it, you realize that it’s also full - it is everything. You realize this presence is what you really are: Love.” ~ Arjuna Ardagh

When you meditate, and experience your presence as a simple pure state of awareness and choice, then you begin to notice that it’s the ground of all your other states... emotions, thoughts, accomplishments, ways of being, roles, things you identify with, attachments. See the new program at Trans4mind: Love is All You Need.

“Don’t discard your fantasies as merely wishful thinking. Honor them as messages from the deepest part of your being about what you can do and directions you can choose.” ~ Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

You need to know these things because nothing will make you happier than doing what you feel is true to and honoring of your inner self.

“It’s never too late to change the programming imprinted in childhood, carried in our genes or derived from previous lives; the solution is mindfulness in the present moment.” ~ Peter Shepherd

As I see it not all of our thoughts originate in the brain. The brain is a transducer between our external mind and the body’s nervous system. Where the external thoughts originate from is a non-verbal, aware mindfulness. Intuition and intention, with free will. However, the majority of brain activity is programmed or reactive internal thought, without free will. That’s how we’re able to function as a body-mind with complex lives… but we can always change these programs and reactions by choosing anew in the present, consciously.

“You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You need not even listen, just learn to become quiet, still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.” ~ Franz Kafka

Nothing esoteric about meditation. Just be there and observe your breath and thoughts and the present moment. Observe your body and mind as though at a distance, without any attachment. Just realize you are not those things you are observing - and at the same time, know you are everything that you are observing. Oneness - being nothing and everything - is enlightenment. You don’t have to be an Indian guru nor sit in a temple. And you don’t have to have an intellectual explanation.

“If you are too busy to meditate, you are too busy.” ~ Maharishi Yogi

When we make time for the things that support us - like meditation and exercise - we can better handle everything else in the day more effectively, and more than make up that time.

“Only the ones who believe ever see what they dream, ever dream what comes true.” ~ Beth Nielsen Chapman

Optimism, hope and faith are all needed to create the life you want, the life of your dreams. If you really believe, and act on those beliefs, then anything and everything is possible.

“It’s important to remember that people are always doing the best they can, including you.” ~ Louise Hay

We always have a motive for feeling and acting the way we do, a reason based on fulfilling our needs. The reason may or may not be misguided, intolerant, negative, exaggerating, illogical, shortsighted, mistaken or inconsiderate. But it’s our best shot at reasoning in that moment in time.

Apologies for quoting myself but this appeared in my consciousness the other day and I really like it.

It’s best not to hold back your tears, nor inhibit the tears of others. Tears mean we care. Our tears reflect the compassion we feel for ourselves or for others... we share the suffering of love lost, the triumph of love gained and the relief of love regained. We feel the exhilaration of freedom discovered, the contentment of hopes fulfilled, and the beauty of self expressed. In truth, tears are divine.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” ~ Dr. Seuss

It’s true that agreement is not necessary for empathic communication. Same goes for liking. What is necessary is understanding, and the pre-requisite for that is listening - preferably listening from the heart, which means to recognize the person’s feelings and the needs they are based on.

“There is a light which shines beyond the world, beyond everything, beyond all, beyond the highest heaven. This is the light which shines within your heart.” ~ Chandoga Upanishad

Shadow and Light. Light is the truth and the reality, even if before we were only seeing the shadows.

“Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” ~ J.M. Barrie

You can stimulate your heart’s energy by sending loving kindness to the next person you see or think of. You are essentially a loving being; if your heart is overflowing with love, it is continually being refilled with more love from Source.

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.” ~ John Milton

As I see it... The body-mind (human) game is about survival and so is ruled by fear. This can lead to a kind of hell. The spirit-mind (soul) game is about loving community and learning from experience. This can lead to paradise.

“We can remain in a state of love when we recognize that everyone is doing the best they can to get their needs met.” ~Jim Manske

Speaking from the heart requires getting clear on your own feelings and recognizing your needs. Listening from your heart requires getting clear about another person’s feelings and understanding their needs. What you or they say and do may not be authentic and may be misguided, but at heart the individual is doing their best.

“Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we have learned here. The spiritual journey is the relinquishment - or unlearning - of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts. Love is our ultimate reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Love is the antidote to fear. Fear is the absence of love, just as the way that light illuminates and vanishes a shadow. Inject love and fear disappears... then we are naturally guided by our own inner truth, in place of the old and shady motivations that were governed by fear.

“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.” ~ Albert Ellis

Of course there is a chain of cause and effect leading up to the present situation, in each of the circumstances you encounter in life, a chain that many other people may have been involved in. However you have a unique role to play in overcoming the resulting challenges that can improve your own position and effect everyone else for the better, if you are causative and creative enough... if YOU take responsibility.

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” ~ Diane Ackerman

It’s so easy to get into a groove, a safe place where we have found solutions to the challenges of survival and relationships, and then to just ride along - no longer creating our life. We may have the mild contentment of fears hidden away, dreams cast aside... but no way is that the path to happiness.

“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

What’s the point of having enemies? Like anger, it’s a lose-lose. Better to communicate in an open way... then who knows, empathy and understanding may begin to creep in and defuse all that angst.

“One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

There is a caveat though. You can’t give back a new awareness gained UNLESS you fail to apply it and then all the old habitual thought patterns (that had been temporarily displaced) return to their position and life continues as before. That happens all too often. The mind needs to be stretched a few times in the same way before it loses its elasticity and maintains the new insight in awareness. The motto: write down a new idea, and APPLY it in as many ways as possible in your life. Use it creatively, then you’ll never be the same again.

“As for worrying about what other people might think – forget it. They aren’t concerned about you. They’re too busy worrying about what you and other people think of them.” ~ Michael le Boeuf

Not being too concerned with what others think of you is good advice. It is more important to be true to your own values and your own heart, whether others agree or not. If you get into people-pleasing you’re a sitting duck for having your life taken away from you, and being influenced away from being your true self. And as the quote says, others don’t really care anyway, they are much more concerned about themselves.

“He who has realized the Self in the Heart has transcended the dualities and is never perplexed.” ~ Ramana

The heart chakra is the meeting point between energies from the earth and energies from the Higher Self exterior to this dimension. Between the body-mind and the soul. Between the human animal and the spiritual being. Between physicality and the ethereal. Therefore being centered in the heart, being open to love flowing in and out, being Love itself (as that is one’s essential nature) - this is the ideal position to be in, following the Middle Path. One is open to both the wisdom of the body and of the Higher Self.

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” ~ Charles W. Eliot

Fortunately books are on the rise again, with the advent of Kindle and iPad. Though I still prefer to read in bed at the end of the day or on the sofa in the afternoon. Visual media are no substitute for the depth of understanding that text provides, particularly the insight into a character’s inner thoughts and feelings. Young people, particularly, need to read novels to develop empathy and acceptance of how people differ, and how valuable that is in the tapestry of life.

“When there is light in the soul, there is beauty in the person.
When there is beauty in the person, there is harmony in the house,
When there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation,
When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world” ~ ancient Chinese proverb

Spend a day relating to each person you meet as if they were your own mother, or your child, or your dearest relative. Do this at work, when you’re shopping, participating in a group, doing an errand. Make people feel important, loved, valued, respected and appreciated, and do it as an active choice, with intention to put something wonderful into the world. Realize how you benefit too.

“Love one another and help others to rise to the higher levels, simply by pouring out love. Love is infectious and the greatest healing energy.” ~ Sai Baba

Love is the healing factor for all of the challenges we face in life from painful feelings, experiences and circumstances. The opposite of love is fear, and fear results in suppression and eventually depression: hiding things away, pretending they don’t exist or never happened, not facing up to one’s responsibilities, and not simply being one’s true self.

By refusing to let go of the painful past, and clinging to the known, even though it’s uncomfortable, it’ll serve as a roadblock to love. By leaving behind your old self and taking a leap of faith into the unknown, it might just reveal what you are truly capable of becoming.

“Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are.” ~ Rachel Naomi Remen

Whatever you resist, persists. The healing route is the opposite of resistance, it is acceptance. The way out is the way through: to open up, release our feelings, accept and let them go. To face reality as it is, which is much easier with love in our hearts rather than negative interpretations and self-defeating beliefs. As Buddha stated, “Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.” Fortunately love is our true nature and is unlimited in supply.

“You become the average of the five people you associate with the most.” ~ Jim Rohn

Not necessarily, you may say, but group influence is powerful, even from those we don’t like. We need to spend most of our time with people who support our happiness and little with those who erode it.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ~ Albert Schweitzer

Yesterday we looked at definitions of happiness including: expressing your true self creatively; loving life; the enjoyment of oneself; fulfillment, being content, liking what you do; good health; living true to your values; sharing life’s beauty with others; ease in experiencing change; living with kindness, love, peace and gratitude. What better way to incorporate all these factors than loving service being the backbone of your work!

“When you can look forward, and the road is clear ahead, and now you are going to create something - that’s as happy as I’d want to be.” ~ Alfred Hitchcock

Mr. Hitchcock was asked his definition of happiness... “A clear horizon, nothing to worry about on your plate, only things that are creative and not destructive,” and then he concluded with the above quote. Other definitions of happiness include: loving life; the enjoyment of oneself; fulfillment, being content, liking what you do; good health; living true to your values; sharing life’s beauty with others; ease in experiencing change; living with kindness, love, peace and gratitude. Perhaps Hitchcock sums it up best though.

“The most important resource isn’t time, or oil, money or gold; it’s love. Without this, we may have everything, but life is worth nothing.” ~ Kute Blackson

Without receiving love we feel uncared for; without giving love we feel disconnected; without recognizing the source of love within us, an unlimited resource, we feel lacking.

“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” ~ Lao Tzu

Making contact with inner guidance is a big step forward in our consciousness. We then have access to universal knowledge through our higher self, our spiritual essence that remains in the next world, not incarnated in our body. The key is to quieten the verbal mind and to be open to receive... images, feelings and knowings. Our spirit communicates through the right-brain intuitive faculty, if we will just listen.

“I am grateful for all of my problems. After each one was overcome, I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. I grew in all my difficulties.” ~ J.C. Penney

The problems and challenges of life are opportunities for personal growth and each of our experiences are best seen in that light: with gratitude.

“Your mind is like a garden. If you plant seeds of love, compassion, truth and integrity, then you reap the rewards. If you choose not to plant anything, then weeds will overrun your garden; the weeds of hate, anger, negative thoughts and actions.” ~ Barry Gottlieb

We need to remain actively mindful, and reflect our inner loving soul with our behavior, otherwise the genetic programming of our human body and the mental conditioning of our many years of upbringing and social accommodation can take over our consciousness and undo the growth we have achieved from insights and understanding.

“When one has fully entered the realm of love, the world - no matter how imperfect - becomes rich and beautiful; it consists solely of opportunities for love.” ~ Soren Kierkegaard

Looked at through the eyes of unconditional love - which includes understanding, empathy and compassion - everything is fine just as it is, everyone are perfect just as they are.

“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” ~ Michelangelo

If what we accomplish is easy, there’s little sense of fulfillment in that. Our potential has not been realized. We didn’t even try. If we fall short of a great goal, so what... we may still have achieved remarkable things and in the wider view, succeeded.

“When you are truly clear about what you want, the whole universe stands on tiptoe waiting to assist you in miraculous and amazing ways to manifest your dream or intention.” ~ Constance Arnold

Forget about when, that will be sorted - just trust in the universe, and play your part in the manifestation (because you are a crucial aspect of the universe too!)

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” ~ Gautama Buddha

Doesn’t mean you don’t learn from the past, or plan for the future, but there’s no need to fret yourself that things weren’t as they were, aren’t as they are, or might be worse. Simply to LIVE without giving yourself those headaches, and therefore to have the free consciousness to be able to perceive what is, to be grateful and be happy.

“Happiness is not something you look for or achieve, happiness is created within you. Your perception of the world around you is where happiness comes from. We can choose to try to look and wait for things that bring happiness, or we can create happiness in everything we see and experience! We often times forget that life itself is a gift and a blessing. Our trials and tribulations are but lessons and new experiences from which to learn. If we learn to recognize this, and look at life through the eyes of the most positive, then our perception of life changes and beauty and happiness of life becomes more apparent. Choose to keep the flame of happiness alive within yourselves. Recognize and appreciate the beauty of life and most of all, live every drop of life with gratitude and the most sincere willingness to learn from the things that bring you confusion or unrest in your life.” ~ Vic of The Sacred Journey of the Soul

“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.” ~ Theodore Rubin

Of course, life would be dull without problems to solve, it’s just that the word has a stigma. Think of problems as challenges instead of as worries, a way to flex your creative muscles and to enjoy yourself.

“Love is based on our capacity to trust in a reality beyond fear, to trust a timeless truth bigger than all of difficulties.” ~ Jack Kornfield

I found the above quote in the wonderful book by Marci Shimoff: Love for No Reason. Marci offers a breakthrough approach to experiencing a lasting state of unconditional love - the kind of love that doesn’t depend on another person, situation, or romantic partner, and that you can access at any time and in any circumstance because it is is part of you: it is who you are. This is the deepest and truest form of love - the timeless truth that Jack Kornfield refers to - and is the key to lasting joy and fulfillment in life.